1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of red wine and to apparatus which retains a portion of the red wine which has not been consumed at the time the original bottle for the wine was opened.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Wine has been a popular beverage for centuries. Wine is typically made in casks and subsequently poured into bottles that typically are of a size capacity to retain 750 ml of red wine. Most wine bottles are closed with a cork or a screw-on cap. The typical wine bottle capacity of 750 ml is approximately 25 ounces which provides four (4) glasses of wine. When entertaining, in most situations the entire bottle of wine is consumed at the time the bottle of wine is opened.
A bottle of wine can cost from a few dollars up to hundreds of dollars. If a bottle of wine is opened and for whatever reason some of the contents remain unconsumed, the unconsumed portion may represent a significant investment.
There is a new class of commerce in the wine industry called “wine preserve”. If a bottle of red wine is opened, the oxygen in the bottle will end up destroying the flavor of the wine. Oxygen reacts with the wine and noticeably ruins the wine. This process of oxygen ruining the wine can happen in only one or two days,
Wine preserve systems known in the prior art are typically comprised of a special pump to eliminate the oxygen. The other typical solution is to add nitrogen. Nitrogen will end up laying on the surface of the wine, which will prevent the oxidation of the wine. These devices are expensive and a bit inconvenient, but they are the only currently available solution to preserve wine.
There is a significant need for an apparatus to retain and preserve unconsumed wine so that the flavor is not ruined by oxidation and the wine can be consumed several days or weeks later without losing its flavor.